A former Myanmar army officer and senior figure in the military-aligned Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) posted a crude TikTok video targeting Myanmar’s case at the International Court of Justice this week.
In the video, he makes an obscene gesture and urges Myanmar’s delegation to direct it at representatives of The Gambia after their court appearance.
The video, shared by Hla Swe, the Naypyitaw chair of the USDP on January 16, is addressed to Ko Ko Hlaing, the head of Myanmar’s junta-appointed legal team in The Hague. In the roughly 1 minute clip, Hla Swe tells the delegation to “follow his advice” after presenting their case, before demonstrating the gesture himself.
Hla Swe, the USDP chair, makes an obscene gesture in a TikTok video shared on January 16, 2026.
The remarks contrast with a rare public warning issued this week by Myanmar’s military, which urged supporters to avoid hate speech and refrain from criticising the ICJ while proceedings are ongoing.
The warning, broadcast on military-owned Myawaddy television, urged supporters to avoid discriminatory language and comply with restrictions on protests while the ICJ case is underway.
But earlier this week, a military-aligned politician said he still supports violent policies against Rohingya Muslims, despite the ongoing genocide allegations.
Myanmar is currently defending itself at the ICJ against a case brought by The Gambia under the Genocide Convention, which accuses the military of committing acts of genocide, including widespread sexual violence, during clearance operations in 2016 and 2017.
Hla Swe, 65, is the Naypyitaw chair of the USDP, a party dominated by former military officers. He previously served as a lawmaker after winning a seat in the military-orchestrated elections of 2010 and he won a parliamentary seat in Naypyitaw in the first phase of the current elections junta has been holding.
In 2019, he was charged under Section 124(a) of the Penal Code for remarks suggesting that a US bombing of government offices under the then–National League for Democracy (NLD) administration would be “good” if it killed everyone inside. He evaded arrest for more than a year before being detained.
Following the military’s seizure of power in February 2021, Hla Swe was released from custody.
